Category: Church

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Art Music Choir Church Commissions Live Psalms

Let the Peoples Praise You

From 2000 to 2005, I worked at Northwestern College in Iowa, teaching music and worship in the music department, and leading chapel worship and overseeing worship teams for campus ministries.

In my second year there, a new president was inaugurated, and I was commissioned to compose a piece for the ceremony. I hadn’t thought about it much in the few decades since, but I recently found a recording from the inauguration and decided to clean it up and post it here.

I had forgotten how much I like it!

The lyrics are adapted from Psalm 67–a perfect Psalm of thanksgiving for a fall worship ceremony in the heartland of America. The meter is 7/8 throughout. I never strayed from a 2+2+3 rhythm; still, the choir hated me for the odd meter! The rhythmic vitality really drives the piece; it feels exciting and exuberant. The harmonic style is–I don’t know what to call it–pan modal? But I like it. There is a lot of bite in the harmonies, but they’re not so complicated the choir can’t find their notes or it leaves the audience scratching their heads.

It feels like it was an important step forward in my composing.

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Jazz Psalms

Psalm 73: You, O God, Are Mine

I’ve worked with Linda Bonney Olin a number of times before. Her Psalm settings are always singable distillations of the original Psalm–direct and heartfelt. Psalm 73 presented her with significant challenges. It is essentially a Psalm of envy and complaint: “Why do I keep myself pure when I can see the wicked thriving all around me?” The Psalmist answers the question by the end of the Psalm: “My reward is a life spent close to God.” Linda turns this into the repeated refrain: “You, O God, are mine.” Beautiful.

I set the text as a jazz ballad because it felt like jazz’s harmonic tension, coupled with a soothing, introspective rhythm, could hold the tension of bitter thoughts and trust simultaneously. I especially like the lift into a new key half way through, following Linda’s structure of complaint/trust.

While I strive to make my hymns simple enough for the average church, this is right at the edge of what most congregations could sing. Maybe I’ll turn it into a choir anthem!

1. Bitter thoughts once filled my mind,
yet you held my hand.
You, O God, are with me still.
You, O God, are mine.

2. On your counsel I rely.
All your ways are good.
You, O God, will be my guide.
You, O God, are mine.

3. Faithless ones will be destroyed.
But I cling to you—
you, O God, my one desire.
You, O God, are mine.

4. Taking refuge in your arms,
I proclaim your deeds.
You, O God, have rescued me.
You, O God, are mine.

5. Though my body may grow weak,
though my heart may fail,
you, O God, will be my strength.
You, O God, are mine.

6. You my portion here on earth,
you my home in heav’n,
you, O God, are all I need.

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Jazz Psalms

Psalm 75: Your Love Enfolds Each Yearning Heart

I continue to work my way through Michael Morgan’s Psalms, while also building toward a future jazz/gospel Psalm album. Those two things came together in this new song, a warm jazz ballad of Psalm 75.

One of the things I love about Michael Morgan’s Psalms is that he doesn’t shy away from difficult sections like, “In the hand of the Lord is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs,” but he somehow finds a way to place it in the context of a tender, loving God who wants the best for us.

Interesting composition story*: I often write a few completely different versions of a song. I write them quickly, without much editing. That allows me some subjectivity and gives me options to choose from as I move forward. In this case, I began by identifying the basic rhythm I heard in the text: 3 unstressed syllables leading to a stressed syllable. (O God, your DEEDS are un-sur-PASSED, etc.)

That led to a first draft in a modal style. It had its charms, but also had some range issues. The second attempt was a pentatonic melody that was lovely, but reminded me of some things I’ve written before. Today I sat down at the piano and this jazz melody poured out almost as fast as I could write it. It combines some of the better features of the earlier tunes, but has a more interesting harmonic structure and satisfying form. Voila! I fired up my musical robots (Band-in-a-Box) and produced this quick demo by the end of the day. Very satisfying.

O God, your deeds are unsurpassed;
no richer grace can earth impart.
Your Name is near; you hold us fast.
Your love enfolds each yearning heart,
your love enfolds each yearning heart.
 
1. Remove our pride lest we must taste
the judgment cup of bitter gall.
Let not our bold ambitions take
the praise from you, who gives us all. Refrain

2. In truth, all judgment comes from you,
whatever earthly courts decree;
the evil by your justice fall;
the righteous through your grace are free. Refrain
 
3. Help us to know humility,
to follow you in all your ways.
From self-conceit, Lord, set us free,
to know ourselves and sing your praise. Refrain

*Let’s be honest: there has never been an interesting composition story.

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Arrangement Choir Church Commissions Congregational Songs

Colón: Prince of Peace

I haven’t posted to my blog in a month, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been slacking off. No, indeed! I’ve been working on some big commissioned projects and soon-to-be-released albums. But here’s a recent arrangement I can share with you.

St. Athanasius

My good friend Carlos Colón wrote a beautiful song based on St. Athanasius’ On the Incarnation, called “Prince of Peace.” He asked me to write strings to go with the choral anthem and then he recorded it with a group of exceptional musicians.

Most of the time, I follow my own artistic impulses, but it is really satisfying to help someone else achieve their musical vision–especially when it turns out so beautifully!

You can request the score at Carlos’ website.

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Jazz Psalms

Psalm 89: The Sky Belongs to You

I wanted to feel like I had accomplished something last week, so Friday afternoon I recorded a quick demo of a new Psalm setting. (And then promptly didn’t have time to post it…)

The lyrics are the work of Michael Morgan and were written for the Timeless Psalter to the tune of TOULON. While that tune’s rugged beauty portrays the regal aspects of Psalm 89:1-8 well, I thought there was room for a more gentle interpretation of the Psalm and Michael’s metrical version of it.

Working in a jazz ballad style allowed the tenderness I was hoping for and also gave me lots of room to move harmonically. I love how the key of C quickly turns into a winding path that eventually leads to a chorus in E. No F#. Wait…Bb? And then back to C. And yet for all the twists and turns, it remains quite singable.

1. For all your loving acts, O Lord, I sing;
my mouth will shout your faithfulness and care;
and heaven’s grateful host will honor bring
to you, who wondrous gifts so freely share.

2. What other god of earth and sky can boast
the great and awesome blessings you afford?
What other mighty one among the host
deserves such praise that we should call him “Lord?”

The sky belongs to you, the earth, and all
that fill its fertile lands from shore to shore.
Your arm with strength will lift us when we fall,
and righteousness endure for evermore.

3. Send down true justice from your lofty throne,
and all-infusive light shine on our ways,
for only by your will such joy we own,
and for your gracious favor give you praise!

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

Psalm 87: Glorious Things

I collaborated with Michael Morgan many times before his death in 2022. Not long before he died, he sent me a collection of new Psalm settings he had written after the publication of his collection of all 150 Psalms, Psalter for Christian Worship. I have received permission from his estate to continue to write music for his Psalm settings; I like the idea of keeping his memory and work alive after his death.

In this latest collaboration, I used a setting of Psalm 87 that he wrote for Emily Brink. That made my work even more special, as Emily is a long-time friend.

Psalm 87 is a beautiful and surprising prophecy of how God will draw all nations to the holy city of Zion. Long-time enemies like Babylon and Philistia will miraculously be welcomed into God’s family. Psalm 87 goes so far as to say that God loves these outsiders enough to fudge the royal registry: “This one was born in Zion.” This is a lovely reminder that God’s understanding of insiders and outsiders has always been more gracious than ours. Michael Morgan captures this as “generations to be numbered, sons and daughters yet unborn” are “future heirs of Israel.” Beautiful.

I matched these hopeful, expansive lyrics with a buoyant melody in 3/4 whose tempo marking is “bright and regal.” It can be sung as a four-part hymn (Michael was an organist) or as a folk-ish praise song (I’m a guitarist). In the demo above, I’ve combined both of these, creating a style that has a bit of a Celtic or even Medieval flair.

1. Zion, fair and glorious city,
sanctuary, grand and sure,
where God’s chosen dwell in splendor,
ever sheltered and secure.

Glorious things of you are spoken;
Jacob’s halls no more excel.
On your holy mount are cherished
future heirs of Israel.

2. Generations to be numbered,
sons and daughters yet unborn
rise to greet their God in wonder,
looking to the sunlit morn. Chorus

3. Singers raise their songs of gladness;
dancers leap with joy anew;
Through the seasons everchanging
all our springs are found in you! Chorus

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

Psalm 32: When I Kept Silent

Not more than a few weeks after I completed a song based upon Psalm 32, my long-time lyrical collaborator, Doug Gay, sent me a beautiful rendering of the same Psalm. “Well,” I thought, “you can never get enough of Psalm 32.”

Whereas “Blessed Is the One” has an almost Middle Eastern groove, “When I Kept Silent” is an understated Celtic ballad.

Give a listen to both versions and let me know what you think. Is there one you like better as a listener? One you’d be more likely to use in your congregation? Do you hear different nuances of Psalm 32’s message in the two songs?

1. Happy are all those whose sins are removed.
Blessed are all souls at home in God’s love.
Happy are all folk whose conscience is clear.
Blessed are all those whose hearts are sincere.

When I kept silent I wasted away,
burdened by guilt every night, every day.
When I acknowledged my sin to the Lord,
I was forgiven, I was restored.

2. Come then, you faithful, and pray now to God
when trouble rises all round like a flood.
God is your shelter and your hiding place.
God will surround you with strength and with grace.

3. God says, “I’ll teach you the ways you should choose.”
God says, “I’ll show you the paths you should use.
Walk in my wisdom, my joy will be yours.
Trust me and follow, my mercy is sure.”

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Church Congregational Songs FAWM 2025 Psalms

Psalm 29: The Voice of the Lord

Psalm 29 paints a picture of God and nature intertwined. But more than simply embodying God in the thunder and lightning, the psalm shows the world to be God’s very temple. While some theological frameworks paint the earth as fundamentally tainted by sin, to be left behind when we’re transported to heaven, Psalm 29 says that God’s presence makes the stuff of life sacred–blessed.

Psalm 29 begins with two “ascribe to the Lord” verses and ends with two verses of “the Lord is enthroned.” Between those bookends are seven “the voice of the Lord” statements. I stick close to this poetic form in my song.

Musically, this song is an easy-to-sing melody with fairly run-of-the-mill chords. But I’ve fleshed it out on this recording with all sorts of fun musical doodads: a section accompanied by four basses, interjections of arpeggiating guitars, and synthesized swamp gas.

  1. The voice of the Lord is on the waters.
    The voice of the Lord moves o’er the deep.
    The voice of the Lord resounds through the sky;
    thunders across the sea.

Ascribe to the Lord, all you creatures of heaven,
ascribe to the Lord all the glory and might.
Ascribe to the Lord all the splendor of his name
and worship the Lord on high.

  1. The voice of the Lord is filled with power.
    The forests fall down before their King.
    The voice of the Lord, the fiercest of joys,
    making the mountains leap. Chorus
  2. The voice of the Lord is like the lightning;
    it flashes across the desert sky.
    The earth has become the temple of God.
    “Glory!” the people cry. Chorus
  3. The Lord is enthroned above the water.
    The Lord is enthroned upon the sky.
    The voice of the Lord, it hallows the earth;
    blesses all humankind. Chorus
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Choir Church Commissions Congregational Songs Demos

Our Souls Will Magnify the Lord (O Antiphons)

I forgot to post this to my blog when I completed it in December!

My alma mater congregation, Church of the Servant, reached out to me last year about their O Antiphon service.* They had been using various musical resources and wanted to commission a brand new setting of all seven “O” texts. I set to work writing new texts based on the original Latin verses and composing an original melody.

Since the O Antiphons are traditionally associated with the Magnificat, I decided to tie all seven verses together with Mary’s song of praise, turning her words into a group response: “Our Souls will Magnify the Lord.” It is a pentatonic (five-note) melody that never seems to come to rest because it begins on the second scale degree and ends on the third. Let me put that in normal person language: the melody has a mystical, elusive quality that reflects the tone of the text and worship service.

This should have been a simple one-and-done seven-verse hymn, but as I continued to work on it, I imagined more sonic textures. By the time I was done I had written a 60 page score for choir, flute, alto recorder, violin, viola, bass, and piano. Feel free to follow along in the scrolling-score video above.

*If you’re not familiar with this Advent tradition, the O Antiphons are seven songs, each beginning with “O” and then addressing the coming Savior with a title like “O Wisdom” or “O Root of Jesse.” You may know them in one of their most popular forms, the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

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Church Congregational Songs Demos

Psalm 32: Blessed Is the One

Psalm 32 is the classic Psalm of sin, confession, and forgiveness–so classic that Paul quotes it in Romans 4:6-7 to explain righteousness apart from works.

The Psalm begins with a beatitude in three parts: “Blessed is the one whose sins are forgiven” is reiterated with three nuanced synonyms for sin and forgiveness:

  • rebellion – burden lifted
  • wandering/failing – covered/hidden
  • defilement – cancellation of debt

What is more important than the exact meanings of each is the parallelism that tells us “This is important and complete; God will forgive every sin.” I kept this parallelism in the chorus of my song.

One of my favorite things about this Psalm is the vivid picture of unconfessed sin: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away.” People often glibly say, “Confession is good for the soul,” but this Psalm takes a much more serious view of not confessing–your secret sin will eat away at you until it causes you physical distress.

And then–Poof!–just like that, the Psalmist confesses and is forgiven. It begs the question of why we are often so reluctant to own up to the messes we’ve made. The Psalmist has a thought about that: “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding.” I recast this in more colloquial terms: don’t be as “stubborn as mules.”

Musically, I found myself in a folk/world groove that is amplified by all sorts of sonic doodads in the recording–tabla samples, Arabic tambourines, overdriven guitars doubled with synthesizers, and even a cloud of rhythmic patches like you’d find in EDM. What I most like, though, is the way the key of C minor slides into all sorts of other harmonic terrain without sounding forced.

Blessed is the one whose sins are forgiven.
Blessed is the one whose wrong is recalled no more.
Blessed is the one whose spirit is washed from iniquity’s stain.

1. Oh, when I kept silent,
my bones, they wasted away.
My secrets consumed me;
my groaning accompanied my days.

    The longer I hid
    the more weary and weak I became.
    I longed for relief
    but was filled with the heat of my shame.

    2. I finally gave in
    and confessed the depth of my sin.
    I trusted your mercy
    and God, you forgave me again.

      Oh, why did I hide
      from the One who sees sins and hears prayers?
      The waters may rise
      but I’m singing salvation’s refrain.

      CHORUS

      3. As stubborn as mules
      we insist that we find our own way.
      But we’re lost little lambs
      and too proud to admit that we’ve failed.

        God’s bottomless love
        will surround those who give him their trust.
        Rejoice in the Lord!
        Rely on his mercy and love.

        CHORUS